MML Investors Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc (NYSE:FCX) by 56.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 57,865 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,914 shares during the quarter. MML Investors Services LLC’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $1,097,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in FCX. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 18.1% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 24,292,902 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $341,073,000 after purchasing an additional 3,724,271 shares during the period. Oakmont Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the third quarter worth about $41,553,000. Contrarius Investment Management Ltd raised its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 74.3% during the third quarter. Contrarius Investment Management Ltd now owns 6,176,460 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $86,717,000 after purchasing an additional 2,633,409 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management & Equity Research Inc. raised its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 141.7% during the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management & Equity Research Inc. now owns 4,152,745 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $78,736,000 after purchasing an additional 2,434,376 shares during the period. Finally, Cornerstone Capital Management Holdings LLC. raised its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 522.6% during the third quarter. Cornerstone Capital Management Holdings LLC. now owns 2,554,280 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $35,861,000 after purchasing an additional 2,144,008 shares during the period. 69.84% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on FCX shares. CIBC lowered Freeport-McMoRan from a “sector outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $19.00 price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Zacks Investment Research lowered Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $17.00 target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Tuesday, December 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. The stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $16.75.

In other Freeport-McMoRan news, VP C Donald Whitmire, Jr. sold 21,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.49, for a total transaction of $419,035.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 70,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,368,958.11. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Freeport-McMoRan Inc (NYSE:FCX) opened at $18.48 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $26,871.98, a P/E ratio of 14.90 and a beta of 2.42. Freeport-McMoRan Inc has a 1 year low of $11.05 and a 1 year high of $20.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 2.14.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The natural resource company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $5.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.89 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 16.57% and a net margin of 11.08%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.25 EPS. sell-side analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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About Freeport-McMoRan

Freeport-McMoRan Inc (FCX) is a mining company. The Company operates through geographical assets with proven and probable reserves of copper, gold and molybdenum, and traded copper producer. The Company’s segments include refined copper products, copper in concentrate, gold, molybdenum, oil and other.